imports with --make?

Is there any way to use --make but provide paths to search for .hi files, *not* .hs files? For example, if a library doesn't use ghc's package system, and is distributed in precompiled form, there doesn't seem to currently be a way to point ghc at the import files when using --make - it always complains that it can't find the modules, and -v shows that it is only looking for .hs files. Abe